Lincoln Financial Field

Your wedding inside the Linc? Why not? The Eagles announced yesterday that Lincoln Financial Field will be available to host special events, such as corporate events, banquets, trade shows, product launches and even weddings. Since its opening in 2003, the stadium has been available for only a small number of events each year, mostly for charitable causes. The Eagles said areas from the 45,000-square foot SCA Club to the locker room could be set up for specific events.

After 10 seasons at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles are investing $125 million to renovate the stadium during the next two years. The privately financed project will include a seating expansion, two new high-definition video boards, upgraded amenities, WiFi installation, imagery of great moments and players throughout team history, and two new connecting bridges for the upper concourses. The project was started in 2010 and has included research of season-ticket holders, the season-ticket advisory board, and focus groups of fans, as well as surveying architectural firms that have built stadiums since Lincoln Financial Field opened.

The Eagles are bringing some of the living room to Lincoln Financial Field. As part of its $125 million revitalization of the stadium, team officials said Wednesday, they are putting $25 million worth of high-definition TV displays, including two huge video walls in both end zones, into the 11-year-old stadium. The team also will install 2,000 linear feet of digital "ribbon boards" between seating levels for out-of-town NFL scores and fantasy football statistics, and 1,200 wall-mounted TVs on the concourses and other areas.

IN FEBRUARY 2012, the Eagles started the process of revitalizing Lincoln Financial Field to give fans a better in game experience. More than 2 1/2 years and $125 million later, the renovations are "99 percent complete," according to team president Don Smolenski. All of the work will be done before the Eagles' home opener on Sept. 7 against Jacksonville. The in-game experience at the Linc, which opened in 2003, will be much more modern, an upgrade that was much needed, Smolenski said.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers junior cornerback Logan Ryan said that he bled Eagles green while attending Eastern High in Voorhees, and that is another reason Saturday's game at Lincoln Financial Field against Temple will have a special significance. It's not just because Rutgers (6-0, 3-0 Big East) and Temple (3-2, 2-0) are unbeaten in conference play. It's also because Ryan has seen his share of football at the Linc. "It's going to be a dream come true," Ryan said about playing at the Eagles stadium.

The Eagles' newest player is a real powerhouse. The stats are electrifying: On a recent sunny day, this bulky unit churned out 21,033.7 kilowatt hours, nearly enough to power two average homes for a year. Yes, the long-awaited solar panels and wind turbines at Lincoln Financial Field are up and running. More than 11,000 panels have been positioned atop the roof, over some of the parking spots, and armoring the side of the building along I-95. Those are the workhorses.

The Temple Owls have their own locker room, complete with cherry-red metal lockers, at Lincoln Financial Field. Temple's 2003 schedule scrolled on the electronic boards during a media open house at the new stadium yesterday. Yes, it looks as if the Owls will play their home football games at the Eagles' new stadium after all. The two sides have agreed to the basics of a deal, a source familiar with the negotiations said. There were some details to work out, and they are holding up an announcement, but it would be a shock if Temple played its games anywhere else this year.

The U.S. bid committee hoping to stage the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 sent initial letters last week to public officials and stadium operators of 70 potential sites in 50 markets for soccer's showcase tournament. Among those contacted was Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles' interest in hosting matches is unclear, but the stadium has been used for international soccer events in the past and will host a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal doubleheader July 18. Six of the stadiums used for the 1994 tournament were contacted, including Soldier Field in Chicago; the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando; the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

AS Roma made itself at home in Philadelphia this past week while Inter Milan camped in Washington. The Giallorossi climbed the Art Museum steps and posed like Rocky. They held semisecret training sessions just off the Schuylkill Expressway at Penn's Rhodes Field. Charismatic manager Rudi Garcia held court at the Ritz- Carlton. The home advantage, however, did not extend to game day. Inter spoiled the party with a 2-0 victory in front of 12,169 at Lincoln Financial Field. The barnstorming clubs from Italy's Serie A met as part of the International Champions Cup. Both teams were eliminated from the tournament later in the day when Manchester United beat Real Madrid.

THEY HELD a soccer match at Lincoln Financial Field a few weeks before the first Eagles game in 2003. In the restaurant business, this would be called a soft opening. Don Smolenski, who was the Eagles CFO at the time, and team president Joe Banner headed out into the concourse to check things out. They discovered a rather sizable problem that showed why soft openings are a good idea. "For the soccer game, we realized that our signage was confusing," recalled Smolenski, now the team's president.

TEMPLE'S football team, which went from 2-10 in 2013 to 6-6 last season (4-4 in the American Conference), will open and close at home this year. The Owls start on Sept. 5 against Penn State (7-6) in Lincoln Financial Field. And their final two games - Nov. 21 against defending champion Memphis (10-3) and Nov. 28 with Connecticut (2-10) - are also at the Linc. They will, of course, try to beat Penn State for the first time since 1941. Their next three games are on the road: at Cincinnati (9-4)

Jeremy Maclin caught the ball and turned around with an airplane strip's worth of green in front of him, and the ground at Lincoln Financial Field seemed to tilt, as if he were suddenly running downhill. Maclin weaved to the middle of the field and back toward the sideline, his fellow wide receiver Jordan Matthews running interference for him throughout the 72-yard journey, until Maclin's right elbow landed on the Cowboys' 1-yard line. The Eagles scored a touchdown on the next play. After spotting the Cowboys a 21-point lead, they trailed by four.

After Widener University was hammered 45-7 by Linfield College of Oregon in a NCAA Division III national quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon in nearby Chester, Pride coach Mike Kelly took a shot at the head coach of the Eagles, who had allowed Linfield to prepare at the NFL team's practice facility. "Make sure you put in the paper that we thank Chip Kelly and I hope the Seahawks do well tomorrow," Mike Kelly said. "He was helping them out. Maybe somebody in Philadelphia ought to buy him a map so he knows where he lives now. But, go Seahawks.

AFTER ALL the media attention both locally and nationally, Mo'ne Davis isn't tired of it yet. Speaking to reporters at Lincoln Financial Field yesterday, Davis said only one thing bothered her. "The lights are pretty bright, but I don't really mind," Davis said, camera lights shining in her eyes. The latest accolade in a year full of them came last week when Sports Illustrated Kids named her its Sports Kid of the Year. And yesterday, they celebrated. Joining Davis in the SCA Club at the Linc were 150 of her Springside Chestnut Hill Academy classmates, her Taney Dragons and Anderson Monarch baseball teammates and a few celebrities - including Mayor Nutter.

It should have been one of his greatest moments as an Eagle. But LeSean McCoy will remember the day he became the franchise's all-time leading rusher in a much different way. "I didn't play well at all," McCoy said. "It was probably one of my worst games . . . since being here. " McCoy fumbled on the first play of the second half, giving the Seahawks a short field to punch it in on their way to a 24-14 win Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. He wasn't in much of a celebrating mood later in the third quarter, when a 4-yard run pushed him past Wilbert Montgomery and into the Eagles record book.

IF HISTORY can be any indicator, at least recent history, Temple is well-prepared to take on the offensive juggernaut coming to Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday. The Owls took care of then-No. 21 East Carolina on Nov. 1, limiting the Pirates - who were averaging a league-best 36 points - to just 10 points. Temple narrowly lost to American Conference leader and offensive powerhouse Memphis, 16-13, on a last-second field goal earlier this month. And on Saturday, the Owls - one win away from becoming bowl-eligible - host Cincinnati, the top scoring offense in the league.

For weeks, the reports about Jordan Matthews in training camp were breathless. It was hard for sportswriters to catch themselves from overhyping a rookie wide receiver who hadn't even faced NFL competition and was still running with the second-team offense. But Matthews had his second-team quarterback throwing to him for the first full game of this season on Monday night, and with Mark Sanchez on the passing end, the rookie receiver had a breakout performance in the Eagles' 45-21 shellacking of the Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field.

MUFASA COULD not have been prouder of his pride. Mufasa is, and will forever be, the glorious alias of charismatic inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans. For the past three seasons, as the other 10 players around him faltered or improved or lost their jobs, Ryans was a consistent beacon of maturity, of consistency, of toughness and intelligence; a professional's professional, a leader of the finest cut. Last week in Houston, Ryans ruptured his Achilles' tendon. He did it while making a play - while intercepting a pass, in fact, in the red zone.

There was that moment in the Eagles' third preseason game when Jeremy Maclin took off from the line of scrimmage, ran 10 yards downfield, started a cut to the inside, and something went awry with his right knee. It locked as he planted, and Maclin fell and grabbed at the knee as the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field went quiet. He said later that nothing aside from the pain was going through his mind, but the rest of the stadium was thinking that a man who had two previous anterior cruciate ligament tears and had bet heavily against a third might have made the wrong decision.

TEMPLE WON four of its first five games, against mostly not-so-good teams. The Owls then dropped two straight, both on the road, against some better competition. The good news is, three of their next four are at home. But they all are against opponents with records above .500, beginning tomorrow afternoon against No. 21 East Carolina (6-1, 3-0) at Lincoln Financial Field. When you're coming off a 2-10 season, it's easier to lose perspective. The reality is, they should have won more games in 2013.